


Tim Drake and his otherworldly ability to attract trouble

by vamplamp



Category: DCU (Comics), Injustice: Gods Among Us
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Damian Wayne is Nightwing, Injustice, M/M, Parallel Universes, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric, dark kon-el
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-06-17 22:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19627000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamplamp/pseuds/vamplamp
Summary: Tim gets thrown into a universe like Injustice, with one big difference. Instead of fighting alongside the Titans, Superboy decided to join Superman to enforce the regime. Seeing what his teammate (and maybe boyfriend) has the potential to become is more than unsettling, especially when Kon's evil and controlling doppelgänger is desperately hunting him.





	1. A Brand New Shitty Fucking World

**Author's Note:**

> I love the Injustice-verse. I love TimKon. Here we are.  
> I'm going to update the character tags and probably the tags as I go so I can figure out how major/minor other characters are actually going to end up being.

Tim barely had time to throw his arms up in front of his face before the thing hit into him. Burning white light filled his vision as he automatically dropped to his knees, the world around him spinning. He cautiously lowered his arms. Breathing heavily, Tim Looked around for the yet unnamed D-grade villain he’d just been fighting only to find him gone and the street deserted. He blinked. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something felt different, wrong, like all those times he’d instinctively tensed only to find one of Ra’s lackies standing behind him when he turned around.

Take a deep breath. Listen to your surroundings. Think. His comm, his comm had cut off suddenly. Damian and Steph had been bickering in his ear when he’d been hit but now there was only quiet, not even the tell-tale clicks of Babs typing away up in the Clocktower. Tim reached up and removed the earpiece with the tip of his finger, it was cracked badly, almost beyond repair. Well at least that answered one question.

The second was a little trickier, he was in Gotham, that much confirmed by the unmistakable crumbling buildings of Crime Alley, the question was whether it was actually his Gotham. Tim didn’t have a whole lot of experience with alternate universes but that didn’t mean he wasn’t immediately picking up on the fact that the normally flickering street lights were burning strong, the sudden lack of people out on the streets and also the way that the curtains in several of the apartments over head where pulled back just enough for someone to peak around without showing their face. 

Pulling his cape around his shoulders further, in an attempt to cover the insignia on his chest and his recognisable utility belts, Tim dipped towards the shadows at the edge of the street and began to move in the direction of the cave. If he hadn’t actually gone anywhere then it was probably time to turn in anyway considering how paranoid he’d clearly gotten, but on the other hand, if this was an alternate universe, then the cave/manor would be a good place to start to figure out what state this world’s Bruce Wayne was in and whether he could rely on Batman to get him home. Silently, Tim prayed that he wasn’t stranded on Earth-3 with that prick Owlman.

The more Tim walked, he would have taken the rooftops but it seemed too inconspicuous, the more he became convinced that this wasn’t the Gotham he knew. The streets were too clean, too empty, too calm. Maybe he’d been tossed into a future where Batman had finally managed to eradicate crime in Gotham? 

Tim didn’t see or hear another soul right until he reached the outskirts of Crime Alley, just as he was about to turn onto the road that would take him directly past the main Batcave entrance, a pair of voices drifted around the corner. Never one not to be cautious, he stepped back into the shadows of a nearby doorway and listened carefully.

“Why are we doing this again?”

“Because I don’t know about you but I’m not exactly the type to say no to a guy who could probably snap my neck.”

Two voices. Both adult but seemingly on the young side.

“I mean, why us? Why not just come themselves if they want to catch him so bad?”

“Are you an idiot? There’s at least 10 so-called ‘Batman sightings’ a night, just in Gotham. We go down, try and figure out if there might be some truth to it, probably just some kid seeing things in the shadows, save anyone else having to come here for nothing.”

“I’m not stupid. Just feel like a speedster could do this ten times faster, Gotham gives me the creeps.”

“Quit complaining would you, I’m not getting dropped in shit just because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.”

The two lapsed into silence but Tim could now hear their approaching footsteps and was crouching in preparation from within his hiding place. The small amount he’d heard had mostly left him with more questions than answers so interrogating the pair seemed like an efficient way to get some facts straight. However, moments before the pair rounded the corner, the door behind Tim swung open silently and he was hauled backwards by a pair of strong arms wrapping around his chest and covering his mouth. The second Tim’s feet were clear, the door swung shut just as quietly at the same time the pair rounded the corner. Struggling fruitlessly against whoever was holding him, Tim listened to the footsteps pass by outside, the crunch of each step and the heavy breathing right next to his ear twice as intense due to the darkness of his surroundings. 

The mystery person gripped him tight, the large hand covering his mouth successfully muffling any protests for a long moment after the footsteps had faded away before the silence was broken by a decidedly familiar voice hissing in his ear.

“Would you stop fucking struggling for a second! I don’t know what you think you’re doing playing at being Batman kid but I do know I probably just saved your ass from something awful. Maybe try and be a little bit grateful”

Despite his annoyance at still being unable to speak, Tim stilled because he knew Jason’s voice and even though he had no idea if he could trust this Jason it was as good a place to start as any. Mentally battling the urge to push back, he was at a disadvantage right now and he knew it, Tim let himself be hauled down the corridor and through another door where he was finally realised onto the floor of a bright room. It was indeed Jason standing over him. Jason who was staring down at Tim’s now uncovered chest and the logo on it in first confusion and then rage.

“Where the hell did you get that suit? Tell me right now!” Before Tim could react, Jason was lunging forward and ripping his mask from his face with a snarl that abruptly dropped away when he saw Tim’s face. 

“Jesus Timmy, you could’ve said something. Last I heard you were dead, what were you thinking trying to jump them patrol officers?”

Dead? Not exactly a new one but it still wasn’t particularly calming to know that his counterpart, and this had to be some kind of alternate universe there was no other explanation at this point, was dead. He began to sit up slowly now that Jason had rolled off of him in order to sit down on the strip of floor next to him instead.

“Sorry, I don’t think I’m your Tim.”

Jason stared at him for a moment with a look that left Tim feeling like he’d just been analysed, “Universe hopping huh?”

“Something like that,” Tim sighed and used one hand to squeeze the bridge of his nose as he briefly closed his eyes though he didn’t miss Jason running a hand through his hair, a familiar tick for when he was feeling nervous or out of his depth.

“Yeah, I need a drink, you want anything?”

“You got coffee?”

“Irish?”

“Just black.”

“Suit yourself kid.”

Tim didn’t move as he watched Jason shuffle over to the kitchen cabinets in the corner and make the coffee up before he grabbed a beer from the fridge and came back over to sit opposite Tim on the floor. Tim cradled the warm mug with two hands, it was still far too hot to drink but it was mildly calming to feel the heat seeping into his palms.

Jason took a long drink straight from the bottle before looking Tim dead in the eye, “So I hate to break it to you Timbo, but this universe fucking sucks.”

Tim frowned, he really needed more information, “How so? Other than me being dead I mean.”

Jason bravado dipped a little and as hint of sadness crept into his voice, “You know how B used to mention what would happen if Superman flew off the rails? Well now we know that he was pretty accurate.”

Instead of responding right away, Tim tried to take a sip from his coffee, wincing as the still boiling liquid scolded his tongue.

“I need you to help me get home.” Right now Jason was his best chance of getting into contact with someone who had access to the right kind of tech, probably Bruce though history stated that most alternate versions of the Flash would be able to help too.

“No, no way. Sorry replacement but no can do.”

Tim frowned, “What? Why?”

Jason sighed heavily and downed the rest of his drink, “you don’t get it but I can’t contact B right now. Only reason the big man mostly leaves me alone is because I have zero contact with the Insurgency. I can’t risk losing that neutrality, the kids need me.”

“You’re the only-”

‘No. Sorry, the best I can do is point you in the right direction but that’s-”

Jason was cut off sharply as a loud banging flooded the apartment followed by a sharp shout of, “Open up!” Jason immediately jumped into action, yanking the mug from Tim’s hand and shoving it onto the nearest countertop, he didn’t give it away if he felt the still hot liquid sloshing over the sides and onto his hands. Guessing it was smartest to just follow along, Tim didn’t resist as he was practically dragged over the wardrobe and directed into a small space behind a false back that Jason had just removed. The pounding on the door came again, louder. He didn’t miss the way Jason’s eyes kept darting anxiously in the direction of the front door.

“It’s lead lined. Look, just stay still, shut the hell up and don’t do shit until I come back.”

Before Tim even had a chance to respond, Jason swung the false back shut again and he was plunged into darkness and silence. 

* * *

Jason ran his hands over the seams of the false back, a quick check to try and make sure that it was as hidden as possible. He didn’t know what the consequences would be for having an alternate version of his dead younger brother sat drinking coffee in his apartment and honestly, he had no interest in finding out. 

Quickly, he pulled his shirt over his head and discarded it onto the floor next to the now closed wardrobe before using both hands the muse up his hair, best to look like he’d been sleeping like any good citizen would be. Shooting a quick scanning glance around his apartment, Jason swung open his door whilst trying to look like someone who had just been woken up and was mildly irritated about it.

“Todd.”

Thank god he was actually having some luck today, better Damian than a Kryptonian who would have been able to use superhearing to already know that there was someone here with him. 

“Damian, what do you want?”

“Can I come in?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

Jason stepped out the way to avoid getting hit as Damian shouldered past him, the look of him in the Nightwing suit- even if it was red- still made Jason’s gut twist with a dark rage he had to work to clamp back under control. 

“ _ What do you want? _ ”

Jason watched carefully as Damian walked over to the mug still on the counter and put his hand over it, no doubt feeling that the liquid inside was still warm. For a moment he was reminded of a time back before the destruction of Metropolis and its aftermath, one of the rare occasions where he had been in the Cave with the others and Damian had been sat next to a mug of Alfred’s hot chocolate. He’d been testing the temperature in just the same way he had just then. With a blink, Jason shook off the memory. Alfred was dead, Dick was dead, Tim was dead, the girls and Duke were god knows where and he hadn’t communicated with Bruce directly in almost five years. No point remembering what was when just surviving had become such an encompassing task.

“There was a Batman sighting a few streets from here tonight.”

Trying to appear nonchalant, Jason moved to clear away the dishes upturned on his draining board, “so what?”

Damian clicked his tongue, before finally abandoning the mug in favour of walking around the apartment. It was a one small room, there wasn’t a lot to see.

“So, one of the people took a picture that showed an insignia. That insignia wasn’t Batman’s, it was Drake’s.”

Jason didn’t let himself turn to face Damian, even when he ran a hand over the front of the wardrobe, “Tim’s dead, killed along with the other Titans.”

“Almost all the Titans.”

That time Jason did startle, very almost dropped the plate in his hand, as he swung to face the owner of the voice. He’d worked so hard to convince both sides that he was truly neutral and now it just felt like the universe was spitting in his face for it.

“Superboy,” repeatedly reminding himself that the alternate Tim was behind lead and couldn’t be found, Jason finished putting the plate away and turned to properly face the new arrival. Now slightly regretting the decision to go shirtless and the vulnerability that followed. Damian had also halted his circuit of the room but at a nod from Kon-El he continued.

‘Do you have anything about the Insurgency Todd?’ The longer this went on the more sure Jason became that they actually had no idea if he was involved in anything and that Damian had probably just been hoping to catch him in the act of doing something against the regime. He wouldn’t be surprised if Superboy was only here because the sighting had been of Tim’s suit.

‘No, I don’t.’ 

Jason had barely finished speaking before a huge force thudded into his chest and he was being forcibly bent backwards over the kitchen counter, a large hand wrapped around his throat and squeezing in warning, ‘I can tell when you’re lying Jason.’

Seriously, fuck kryptonian super-hearing. Jason resisted the urge to struggle, not even when the edges of Superboy’s eyes began to glow faintly red, ‘I don’t know anything that isn’t common knowledge. The street kids hear bits rumours and talk to me that’s all, back off.’

Jason held his breath for a moment, refusing to back down before Kon-El pushed him back by the throat and let go, he resisted the urge to rub as his neck as he settled back onto his feet.

‘We’re done here,’ Superboy started striding back towards the door, waving a hand in Damian’s direction without looking.

‘But-’

‘Now Nightwing.’

Damian glared hard at Jason on the way out. Even though it probably wasn’t the smartest move, Jason felt like he’d earned the right to be a little childish so he opted to flip the kid off as he left, earning himself a wingding sunk into the cabinet next to his head. Worth it.

Despite disliking the idea of leaving Alternate Tim in such a dark, quiet space for so long, Jason waited a full half an hour after Superboy and Nightwing had left before heading for the wardrobe, superhearing could be a bitch to avoid.


	2. If only life could be the tiniest bit easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all the great comments on the first chapter! Hope that this lives up expectations.

Wearing Jason’s clothes felt beyond weird. The red hoodie was big enough to fit an extra half of him but he had to admit that it was more conspicuous than his Red Robin suit, which was instead stuffed inside his backpack (also Jason’s). He’d been offered one of Jason’s guns to carry, but had declined partly because he didn’t want the Red Hood to get mixed up in his problems if he got caught but mostly because he didn’t feel confident enough handling a gun and his bo staff was much more discreet. 

“So I don’t know where he is now but B was definitely working from the Cave at one point. Just be careful Tim, I doubt it’s the first place they’ll look but it’s far from the last. Unfortunately it’s the only one I can think of that you might find what you need to track down somebody who can help.” 

Tim flipped up his hood, casting a shadow over most of his face, “I don’t have much of a choice, I need to get home. Thanks Jason, for everything.”

Before Tim could head out the apartment’s door, he was planning to take the back exit in case anybody was watching the building, Jason grabbed his wrist, “you know Superboy on your Earth?”

Jason had told him the basics of Superman’s Regime and the reminder of what this Earth’s Kon-El had become made Tim’s skin start to crawl all over again, “yeah, we’re, it’s complicated.”

“Remember that the one here, he’s not the boy you know. He’s unhinged, he lost his Tim and I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts seeing you as some kind of replacement,” Jason smirked a little, his eyes sparkling with a familiar mirth, “Replacement.”

Tim pulled his hand back and grinned with a confidence he didn’t feel, “try not to sympathise with the evil dictator’s son, got it.”

Tim didn’t look back as he headed out a rear door and down the alley in the direction of Wayne Manor, he couldn’t afford to. As much as it pained him, finding a way to get home had to be his priority, before he caught himself caring too much about the people of this reality.

Walking through the streets, Tim could almost see how someone could believe what was being done here was good. The air was clean in a way Tim couldn’t remember it ever being before and people were stopping and talking at the ends of alleys as though confident they were empty. But, looking closer, it was clear to Tim that people were scared. It took a lot to shake Gothamites, though from the way they kept glancing up at the sky, Tim was pretty sure he knew what the cause was. With the Joker gone, an even bigger threat was hanging over the city.

Leaving the main Gotham area and its people behind, Tim found himself stuttering to a stop, against his better judgement, as he drew level with the Drake house,  _ his _ old house. Although he hadn’t returned there for years in his own universe it was still unsettling to see the house he grew up in chained shut and overgrown by the plants that had always been so well taken care of. Tim wondered briefly what had become of his parents here but quickly cut off that train of thought before it got out of hand and his curiosity got the better of him. Even if he wanted to go inside, he didn’t have time, especially not for the ghosts of a life he had long since left behind.

Ignoring the chill creeping down his spine, Tim tugged his hood up a little further and hurried on, not stopping until the towering gates of Wayne Manor were looming over him. Having expected to have to climb the fence, Tim was more than a little surprised to find one of the gates open and hanging from only one of its hinges. 

The clacking of Tim’s boots as he walked up the drive felt deafening as it broke through the silence, a part of Tim kept expecting to see Alfred opening the door to welcome him back home only to have to remind himself what Jason had told him, there was no Alfred here anymore, or a Dick to call when he needed advice. Tim was alone, even more alone than he had been when Bruce died, at least then Kon had said he believed him. But he had known what he was doing then, and he knew now. With a deep breath Tim pushed at the front entrance door, it swung open with a loud squeak but, considering the gate, it wasn’t that surprising to find it unlocked.

All the furniture was covered over with large dusty white sheets, Tim couldn’t help but scrunch his nose up as he spotted a spider scuttling its way across the floor and disappearing into the Great Hall. Tim followed, treading lightly on the wood in an attempt to avoid his footsteps giving away his position to anybody within the house, a habit all bats were familiar with. 

Tim pulled the bottom edge of his hood across his mouth and nose as he moved into the Grand Hall, the morning sun was coming in through the top windows and highlighting the dust as it floated in the air as well as casting shadows along the walls. It was clear that it had been a long time since anybody had cleaned the place, even the large portrait that Tim knew was of Martha, Thomas and Bruce that hung centre stage on the opposite wall was covered by curtains.

He was about halfway across to the main staircase, that would take him to Bruce’s study and the cave when the sharp bang of the front door slamming shut thundered through Tim’s ears. He automatically backed up against the nearest wall and into the shadows, cursing the decision to wear Jason’s familiar red hoodie rather than black. He listened. 

The tapping of somebody who wasn’t bothering to try and hide their footsteps echoed in, whoever it was, they were moving slowing but definitely in his direction. Tim began to edge his way towards the staircase, the Grand Hall was far too open.

“I know you’re here.”

Tim’s stomach dropped, Conner. 

“It’s cute that you still think I don’t know the sound of your heartbeat.”

Swallowing, Tim silently continued to move, reaching the bottom step and beginning to head upwards.

“But that’s my Robin, always so smart but blind to the idea of somebody caring for you.”

Halfway to the top, Conner’s voice had almost reached the entrance to the Great Hall.

“Superman won’t be happy you escaped the Phantom Zone, but it’s okay, we can talk to him together. You’ll get a second chance to see things the right way.”

One quarter to go, Conner was clearly playing with him, unable to see Tim through the Manor’s lead lined walls and believing that Tim was the one from his universe, clearly not dead just trapped. If he could just make it to the spot in the cave where Bruce kept the kryptonite, if there was still any kryptonite there…

“We can look after each other, like old times. Just like when we were-”

Tim looked back from where he was halfway between the top of the stairs and the door to the corridor that led to Bruce’s study, Conner was stood in the entrance to the Great Hall staring up at him with big eyes. He was wearing a suit more akin to Superman’s than anything Tim had ever seen his Superboy wear, all dark blue plating with a large symbol on his chest and a long cape flowing behind him. His face was Kon’s though, it suddenly became incredibly clear why Jason had made a point to warn him about not confusing this Superboy for his own.

Tim slowly backed up a little as Kon flew up to the top of the stairs, neither of them breaking eye contact now that Tim was fully facing him.

‘It’s really you,” Kon spoke so softly that Tim could only just hear it, he clenched a hand around the bo staff folded up and hidden within his hoodie pocket. Just because Kon wasn’t being aggressive now didn’t mean that the moment he discovered that Tim wasn’t who he thought he was that he wouldn’t get violent. The bruises that had appeared around Jason’s neck whilst Tim had been hidden were evidence enough of that.

“Conner,” Tim slowly put a hand behind his back and gripped the door handle tightly, it took everything in him not to move when Kon took a step forward, if he tried to run now then he would never reach the kryptonite in the cave.

“What are you doing here?” Conner was almost next to him now, he had to come up with something, something that wouldn’t get called out as a lie but would get them both down to the cave without Tim getting his head smashed in first.

“I need something from the cave.” Tim opened the door behind him as though to demonstrate his point, Conner frowned and cut him off before he could take so much as a step.

“Like what?”

“Just something that I wanted to pick up that I left in the cave for safe-keeping.”

Conner narrowed his eyes when Tim tried to step around him and moved to block him again, just at Tim was beginning to blank an idea jumped into his head. It made him feel awful to use for his own benefit but if this Kon really did care about his Tim in whatever screwed up way then it would likely make him back off long enough for him to get to the cave.

“Something Dick left!’ Tim could only hope that Conner misinterpreted him blurting it out from nerves for emotion, “something that Dick left in the cave before he died that I wanted to pick up.”

Thankfully, Kon immediately stepped back and, although his eyes didn’t lose their uncertainty, let Tim pass.

The path to the batcave was familiar at least, the movement of the clock hands so ingrained in his system that he didn’t even consider the numbers might be different in this universe until he had already put them in. He tried not to show his relief when the door swung open to reveal the stairs behind it. 

Tim let out a rather indignant squeak of shock when, before he even had a chance to move, Kon swept him up into his arms and began to float down the stairs. Tim couldn’t help but completely tense up, he tried to relax but his muscles refused to cooperate. 

“Come back with me. After this, come back to the WatchTower with me,” Kon slipped a hand up and put it under Tim’s hood, the idea of having his face completely uncovered seemed incredibly unwise but trying to stop him would likely be just as detrimental, “Superman will forgive you, and we can be together again for-” at the same time Tim’s hood slipped off Conner stuttered to a stop. “You’re wrong.”

Tim’s stomach dropped out from under him, “What are you talking about?” 

But he knew that the shock on his face had already given him away, usually Tim was better at hiding his emotions but there was always something about Kon-El that disarmed him. 

“You aren’t Tim.” 

Without warning, Conner dropped him and he went careening down the remaining stairs, instinct getting his hands up and protecting his head until he slammed down onto the floor of the batcave with a grunt. He barely had a chance to take in a shaky breath before strong hands were hauling him up and he was being slammed into the wall across the room, his bo staff clattering away across the floor and out of reach.

All kindness had dropped from Conner’s face leaving only steel in its wake, “You think I don’t recognise my Tim,” Conner punched him across the face and Tim realised that he must be somewhat holding back as he didn’t currently have a broken jaw. “You might sound like him, be imitating his heart and have a weak imitation of his face but,” Conner threw him to the floor and Tim faintly registered he was only a few feet from one of the places that his Bruce had always used to store kryptonite, “my Tim would have been smart enough to cover the scars on the back of his neck.”

Shit, those scars had come from a fight with League assassins almost two years ago, after what Tim had gathered was the main point of divergence in this timeline. He should have known this Earth’s Tim wouldn’t have had them.

Tim spat a load of the blood gathered in his mouth out onto the floor at Conner’s feet, “Conner, I-”

Kon slammed a foot into his stomach, rolling him over to within arms reach of the floor compartment he had been aiming for, “You don’t get to call me that! There is nothing left of Conner Kent, not with Bart dead and Cassie trapped, not with Tim still gone.”

Tim rolled over an extra time so he could conceal the small floor compartment with his body and pry it open with his fingers. He could have cried in relief at the sight of the small lead box still resting neatly inside, he pulled it out and clutched it to his chest with on hand, cursing silently as his bloody and sweaty fingers repeatedly slid over the catch.

Tim was forced to slide the box into his pocket as he was pulled up once more. The familiar touch of Kon’s TTK wrapped around his limbs. Though instead of the protection he was used to it providing, he became unable to move, completely frozen in the air as Kon used the single hand wrapped around his throat to cut off his air supply.

Head swimming, Tim’s vision narrowed so all he could see was Kon’s face. “Conner,” he barely managed to choke the word out, wasn’t totally sure if he did or that it was only heard inside his head but a moment later, just as he was on the verge of passing out completely, he found himself dropped to the floor and gasping for breath. 

Kon was staring down at him, a dark look on his face, but he didn’t try to stop Tim as he pushed his hands into his pockets. Running his hands along the edge of the box until he felt the catch, his fingers slipped again a few times but he quickly got a grip and flipped the lid, grabbing the rock from inside. 

Superboy instantly dropped, sharp gasps of pain shooting from his mouth. Tim didn’t say a word as he climbed to his feet, even though he knew it wasn’t him, seeing pain on such a familiar face still hurt. He limped to the computer. The majority of that corner of the cave had been completely destroyed, but there was still a stack of Bruce’s backup drives hidden behind the false back of one of the draws so Tim grabbed the lot and shoved them in his pockets. With any luck one of them would have something useful on it. 

Attempting to blank out the pain radiating through his body, Tim placed one of the kryptonite shards on the table near where Superboy was still lying, now limp, on the floor, and kept the other two held tightly in one hand. Let him stay there until someone came and found him. He grabbed his bo staff and backpack off the floor before heading out of one of the lower floors garage exits and into the brightness of outside. Tim rubbed a hand across his face, trying to wipe away some of the blood beginning to block his vision. It wasn’t blood, Tim didn’t remember when he’d started crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... we think Conner's worth saving...?


	3. There are few things more human than a little empathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of Kon's POV, bit of Tim's POV

Kon-el came to sharply, sitting up so fast he ended up hovering in the air for a few moments before hastily touching back down with a blink. The last thing he remembered was kicking the imposter across the floor before the glowing green light and that unbearable pain. Looking around, he saw that he’d somehow gotten outside, Wayne Manor standing tall to his right and the sun felt blessedly warm against his skin. Shazam was standing a few feet away, looking at him but not approaching, probably wise but at least it explained how Kon had left the cave. 

Refusing to show weakness, he pushed himself up into a standing position, ignoring Shazam’s questions after his well-being and flew off back in the direction of the cave.

It always startled Kon how quickly his body managed to recover from the effects of kryptonite when it was exposed to sunlight, but he was never not thankful for the lack of after effects. Landing back inside, Shazam touching down soon after him, Kon was relieved to see that he hadn’t been unconscious long enough for the imposter’s blood to dry out, he wanted to run some analysis, see if he could work out who or what it was they were really dealing with. Maybe a shapeshifter. Or a masking device.

He spared Shazam half a glance. Kon had always liked the kid but he couldn’t afford to show any cracks in his carefully crafted aloft persona. If Superman caught wind of him showing weakness there was no way he would be allowed to continue with as much jurisdiction as he currently had. Worried that seeing Tim’s face again, and then the anger at discovering that somebody was trying to take advantage of something they didn’t understand, was going to show on his face. Kon refused to make eye-contact with or fully look at Shazam, instead busying himself with collecting some of the blood up with the Batcave’s salvageable equipment.

“Make sure you take the kryptonite with you, Superman will want to personally oversee its destruction.”

He saw Shazam nod through his peripheral vision, before he jumped in with an, “of course,” as he probably realised Kon still wasn’t looking at him.

The flight back to the Watchtower was quiet. Kon had always liked flying, especially the peacefulness within his air pocket as he moved through space that allowed him to just focus on the flight itself. 

Not wanting to face Superman straight away, Kon headed straight to one of the labs, grabbing Flash along the way so he could find out more about the blood. Barry knew how to handle the process far better than he did so it was much faster to just let the speedster handle it and tell him what came up. Back before, when he’d still been a Titan, Kon would have just asked Tim if he could run it through the Batcomputer but it wasn’t like that was a possibility anymore.

“Is this some kind of joke Superboy? This is Tim Drake’s DNA?”

_ What?  _ “What?!”

Kon immediately flew from where he had been staring out into space through one of the windows so that he was looking over Barry’s shoulder at the computer screen he’d been working on. He didn’t know much, but he knew enough to figure out that the data on the screen showed a match.

“This is Tim Drake’s blood.” Barry was looking at him in a vaguely annoyed manner, like this was some kind of sick joke that he was the butt of, unfortunately Superboy didn’t play jokes anymore.

“It can’t be. Trust me, whoever it was, they weren’t Tim.”

“They had to be, unless they figured out how to fool a system built by Batman himself.”

“But it’s not possible, unless, he could be from an alternate Earth?”

“Definitely an option.”

“And-”

“And you let him get away!” Kon jerked to stare at the door before quickly schooling his features into a neutral expression as Superman strode into the room. Superman barely even looked at Kon-el, instead focusing completely on Barry.

“Flash, could he be from an Alternate Earth?”

“Yes, well he could be a clone but-”

“Impossible. Red Robin is still trapped inside the phantom zone and Batman would never let someone get ahold of his DNA. Whatever he is, we can’t have Batman finding him first, Superboy, you know the sound of his heart?”

Kon felt the weight of Superman’s gaze heavily but refused to break eye contact, “Yes. I should be able to find him.”

“Bring him in and throw him in a cell. Notify me when it’s done, I have business to attend to.” Superman turned back towards the door.

“But he has kryptonite from the BatCave.” Kon instantly regretted the comment at the flash of red that lit Superman’s eyes momentarily.

“Then you take someone with you! Are you seriously telling me that you were planning to go alone after you completely failed last time?”

“No, I-”

“Use some initiative for once would you! Get it done. Report back to me, don’t screw it up again.”

For a few moments after Superman stormed out of the room, Kon didn’t move. Barry wasn’t looking at him but he wasn’t going to try and fool himself into thinking that he hadn’t been paying attention. Sometimes he wondered if Kal-el had forgotten what he had lost too. Lois, his potential little brother, his friends. Him and Kal-el had never been close but at least before everything he had been given more than the cold disdain that was reserved for him these days. He believed in the regime, he  _ did _ , but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel as though he was constantly trying to fight his way out of Superman’s shadow. Kon shook himself off, he couldn’t afford to think like that, too much risk for too many people was carried with thoughts like that. He closed his eyes and listened out for Tim’s heartbeat. It took a moment but he found it beating solidly, on the outskirts of Gotham. The familiar rhythm was steadying and he didn’t hesitate to use it to ground himself. He hoped that this Tim was either a clone or from an alternate universe because that meant that he was still  _ his  _ Tim just maybe with the possibility of more amenable morals.

“Flash, suit up and get Lantern, you two are coming with me.”

Barry looked up from where he had been retesting to DNA analysis only getting it reconfirmed as an exact match each time, less than a moment later he was standing up in his suit. “You don’t want to bring Nightwing?”

“He’s too close to this.”  _ Yeah, because I’m not,  _ “Whoever this guy is he’s wearing the face of Nightwing’s dead ex-brother, can’t risk him losing control.”

Barry nodded minutely, he blurred for a moment before stilling with Yellow Lantern now by his side. Kon didn’t like working with Hal, he had before but now the man always seemed reluctant to follow his lead, like him and that alien Sinestro were always planning something. Unfortunately him and Flash still worked as an absolutely seamless team so since he wasn’t taking Damian, Lantern it was.

“I’ll brief you on the way, let’s go.”

* * *

They touched down on the roof of the abandoned warehouse with a soft thud, Lantern letting the construct that had been transporting Barry fall away wordlessly. They were right on the edge of the city, the warehouse standing silent directly next to a run down motel, the kind that only takes cash on the door and doesn’t ask questions. Past the drunken laughter echoing out through on open window, Kon could still hear the thumping of Tim’s heart. He briefly used his x-ray vision so he could see Tim,  _ not his Tim _ he reminded himself, hunched over a laptop, looking half asleep as he read whatever was on the screen.

“Top floor, fourth window from the left,” knowing that Tim likely had kryptonite on his person, Kon was going to have to trust Lantern and Flash to get most of it done before he could get involved. He saw them exchange a few words, not bothering to listen in even though he could, before Flash was gone and Lantern flew up to hover just over the window of Tim’s room. None of them noticed the figure crouched in the shadows on an adjacent building.

* * *

Tim was exhausted but he also couldn’t get himself to move away from the screen and into bed. He had ended up having to lift the laptop off of a guy in the diamond district but he didn’t feel too bad about it because he had seen the same guy kick a stray cat who had wandered past him a few minutes earlier. He was also pretty sure that it had more than enough money to afford to buy himself a new one. The first couple of memory drives he had sorted through had just been generic suit and equipment plans, nothing that could even vaguely point him in the right direction to track down any members of what Tim had gathered was a rebel group led by Batman. 

The third and fourth were full of profiles, mostly things Tim already knew but he did use it to learn who exactly was alive, dead, with Batman, with Superman and neutral. He was saddened to see just how many members of the Justice League had taken Kal-el’s side, not to mention his surprise at seeing Deathstroke being listed under the insurgents. 

Oliver Queen dead. 

Dick Grayson dead.

Lois Lane dead.

James Gordon dead.

Kyle Rayner dead.

Roy Harper dead. 

Lilith Clay dead.

Donna Troy dead.

Bart Allen dead.

Garth confined to Atlantis.

Starfire missing presumed dead.

Cassie Sandsmark missing presumed dead.

Stephanie Brown missing.

Wally West imprisoned.

The list went on and on and Tim became more and more thankful that this wasn’t his world, especially considering this had all occurred before Bruce had been forced to abandon the file. It was haunting seeing all those names of the dead. The names of his friends and family. He found himself repeatedly having to set off mental reminders that these weren’t the people he knew but that didn’t stop him thinking about how there was a Tim that had lost all these people which in itself hurt pretty badly. Then he reached his own profile.

It was eerie seeing the words, Red Robin: Missing presumed dead, next to a picture of him in his Red Robin suit and another of him as Tim Drake. He moved on quickly though not before processing the parts reading: notable affiliations (weaknesses), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), Conner Kent (Superboy).

He wasn’t exactly surprised to see that the Tim of this Earth seemed to have been in a relationship with his Superboy, no matter how it turned out. Thinking back to his own Conner, it felt like so much more than a week ago that Conner had been grinning at him across the table in that hole in the wall in Metropolis. Conner had flown him home to the manor and kissed him on the balcony outside the second floor windows. It had been their second official date and had felt magical, he wasn’t surprised that this Earth’s Tim had seen him that way too.

Closing the flash drive and putting in the next one, Tim sighed. He was seriously considering just causing a shitload of trouble to see if Bruce would come and find him himself, but unfortunately that didn’t exactly seem like a fool-proof plan. Just as he was about to start up reading again, Tim froze as a faint banging echoed down from the roof. He had requested a room on the top floor for just this reason, if someone was up there, he was going to find out. 

Shedding his hoodie and jeans, Tim slipped his mask into place and moved to the window, making sure to double check the kryptonite in his belt. The moment the window cracked open, the sounds of what was clearly a fight of some sort reached him. Tim stuck his head and shoulders outside to try and determine the best way of getting himself up to the roof without being detected but all he had time to register was bright yellow before he was being hauled out into the open air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: there's a hint in this chapter for someone who should be showing up in the next one...


	4. Lanterns, Fear and Speedsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you hadn't guessed, I highkey ship Halbarry

Tim’s arms automatically reached up and started pulling at the hand that was wrapped securely over his mouth, swinging back at the adjoining forearm with as much force as he could muster. Desperately scrabbling for purchase, he managed to hook the back of one knee around the corner of the windowsill, gritting his teeth as the back of his thigh scraped over a nail sticking out of it but held on, even as the cheap wood creaked from the pressure. If he let himself be dragged out into the open air then the chances of him winning this fight dropped dramatically. 

What was undoubtedly a Power Ring construct appeared in the corner of Tim’s eye, coiled together like rope and spinning for his leg. Giving up on trying to directly move the hand holding his face, Tim sharply shifted his middle and jerked an elbow backwards with as much force as he could muster. The body behind him gave a satisfying grunt and the hands slackened for just enough time that Tim was able to slip away and speed upwards in the direction of the roof. He didn’t need to beat the Lantern, just make it far enough away that he could disappear for long enough to find Bruce. Easier said than done.

Just as his fingertips wrapped around the edge of the roof, Tim felt a construct wrapping around both of his ankles and so he braced himself to be pulled back down. Only to be caught by surprise when instead he was thrown upwards and slammed down onto the rooftop with a thud. 

Instinctually, Tim rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the oversized yellow fist that slammed into the spot he’d just been in. Ignoring the pain now shouting at him from multiple body parts, especially the throbbing radiating from the scrape on his thigh, Tim pushed himself up onto his elbows only to almost fall back down in shock at the sight of Batman and Flash fighting at the other end of the roof. Although the fight was looking fairly even, when Batman glanced over at Tim his entire body froze up, if Tim didn’t know better he would say Bruce had let his shock get the best of him. The moment only lasted a second but it was more than enough time for Flash to land a proper hit to Bruce’s jaw that sent him stumbling before ramming directly into his chest and sending him flying over the ledge that lined the edge of the roof.

Tim had hoped that Bruce had placed some sort of tracker on the files that he’d taken, hoped that all he had to do was boot them up in order to find help. Just his luck that help would show up at exactly the same time as the very last people he wanted to see. 

The constructs had quickly wrapped Tim’s legs together and were now snaking their way up his torso at an alarming rate. 

He could feel the fear worming its way in. Ever since he had arrived here Tim had been pushing things down, only allowing himself to focus on the surely inevitable result of him getting home, but, after seeing Bruce only to have that ripped away from him by people he instinctually registered as heroes, he felt like he was about to snap. Jason had been scared. He’d hidden it well but when he talked about the state of the world and his position in it, Tim had known that he’d been scared. Terrified that his careful balance would slip and that Superman would come for him. That his choice would be ripped away from him. That he’d be forced to abandon his Crime Alley kids to run because he had no choice. 

Seeing what he knew was Hal Jordan wearing yellow felt wrong in a place deep down in his gut and the neutral expressions on both his and Barry’s faces as they approached was so so wrong. 

Tim wanted to go home. Find the prick that sent him here. Throw him in Blackgate. Maybe punch him in the face a few times for good measure. Then go and remind himself what it felt like to be held by  _ his _ Kon. 

Instead he steeled himself because the world didn’t give a shit what he wanted and if there was one thing that Tim knew how to do it was to deal with an unbelievably shitty situation. Bats didn’t get scared, they got the job done and shoved everything that wasn’t helpful away into little boxes never to be seen again.

“Hey guys, long time no see. Gotta say Hal, not a fan of the new look.”  _ Nice one Tim, insult the alternate versions of Justice League founders. _

Barry and Hal shot each other a look, “When you told me where we were going, I expected it to be weird but this Barry, this is really weird.”

“Weird for you? This isn’t even my universe!”  _ So apparently when Tim was scared any remaining self preservation went straight out the window. _

Hal opened his mouth as though to respond but cut himself off when Superboy touched down in a position that forced Tim to crane his head back to look at him. He desperately ignored the part of him that was relieved to see there didn’t seem to be any lasting damage from the kryptonite, instead focusing on his rightful annoyance when Kon bent down and removed the lead box from his belt.

“Where’s Batman?”

It was more than eery watching Barry and Hal immediately defer to Kon as the one in charge. 

“He’s right over-” In true speedster fashion, and possibly the first truly familiar mannerism Tim had seen in either him or Lantern, the rest of what Barry said was swallowed as he sped over to the spot on the roof that Bruce had fallen off a few minutes ago. Barry looked from the ground back over at them, “He’s gone.”

Kon immediately sped so that he was hovering just over the edge of the building next to Barry, “So you’re telling me that you hit  _ the  _ Batman off a building and just assumed he would stay down?”

Tim was distracted momentarily by the fact that the constructs wrapped around him definitely just loosened slightly, he glanced over at Hal. He was staring at the two on the other side of the roof, making small aborted motions as though he wanted to go and join them and deciding not to at the last minute.

“You need to be careful Flash, because if I didn’t know better I might suspect that you didn’t want to catch Batman at all and that would not be information you’d want getting around.”

Hal finally stopped listening to common sense and flew over to stand just behind Barry’s shoulder, “Forget Batman, he got away but we caught the target. That was the mission, mission accomplished.” 

The constructs faded slightly, becoming malleable enough for Tim to begin to slip his way out of them. If he could just disappear before they noticed then maybe he could find Bruce, who was no doubt still around. Silence fell over with the group and Tim froze for a second, worried that they’d spotted his escape but a glance told him that Kon was simply staring from Barry to Hal and back again. After a long moment, his eyes lost their red rim.

“Fine but be careful. Wouldn’t want you ending up like your fellow lanterns.”

“Or my grandson.” Barry’s voice was barely louder than a whisper but if Tim could hear him from the other side of the roof, Kon and Hal definitely heard. He’d made it halfway to the edge of the roof by now but the progress was slow. It ground to a total halt when he felt the familiar wrap of Kon’s TTK around his limbs.

“How about we get back on track and take the escaping target to somewhere that’s harder to escape from.” 

_ Fuck _ .

* * *

  
  


Wally was reading a book. It was a book he’d read before, well speed-read, when he was younger and had particularly remembered thinking was good so he’d made sure to mention it to Barry last time he’d come by and it had appeared in his cell the next day. Now he was reading it at a normal pace, partly because he wanted to fill up the time but mostly because of the inhibitor collar around his neck.

Reading helped him to bury the scarily large part of him that wished that Barry had never made a deal that kept him alive, that he’d been deemed the dignity of dying alongside Donna, Roy and Lilith rather than being destined to a life of isolation in the cells of the Watchtower powerless and unable to see Garth where he was confined to Atlantis. He’d only started talking to Barry again gradually over the past 6 months, physically unable to take the loneliness anymore and anxious that Barry would eventually stop coming to sit outside his cell at all and just leave him to rot. But hey, at least he was alive, it was more than Dick had right now but Wally really didn’t know what that counted for anymore.

* * *

  
  


Tim groaned as his back hit the floor of the Watchtower cells. Kon looked at him like he wanted to say something but he turned away instead. Tim scrambled to his feet and pushed himself up against the bars.

“Why didn’t you do anything about Flash?”

Kon froze, he didn’t look back but he did stop walking, “What?”

“He let Batman go, why didn’t you do anything?”

Kon stayed silent, his gaze focused on the end of the hall.

“Why didn’t you do anything Conner? Is it because you’ve been having doubts?”

“Don’t call me that!”

Tim knew he was walking a very fine line but he had to know. He could practically hear Damian in his head telling him he was being a sentimental idiot but he had to know just how far gone this Kon was.  _ Yeah because him tossing you about the Batcave wasn’t evidence enough. _

“Because it’s what Bart and Cassie used to call you? Because it’s what I used to call you?”

That got Kon’s attention, but instead of getting up in Tim’s face like he expected, he stayed rooted to the spot only turning so he could look Tim in the face, “because it’s not my name.”

“It was, so what changed? I know you  _ Conner _ .”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me or this world.” Kon all but hissed out before turning and stalking away, but Tim didn’t miss the slight tremor that he tried to hide by lifting his hands in front of him.

Sighing, Tim moved back and sat against the stone wall that made up the back half of the cell. He’d been so close. Bruce had been right there, he’d looked right at him before letting it all slip right through his fingers. And now he was stuck in cells he was pretty sure didn’t exist in his universe, no suit, no belt, no bo staff just on ratty t-shirt and jeans that Superboy had snatched from his bag.

“Hello,”

Tim started.

“I know how much it sucks to be alone down here so I figured I’d let you know you aren’t. I can’t quite pin your voice down but you’re someone willing to stand up to Superboy so that automatically puts you in my good books.”

Bringing up his knees and wrapping his arms around them, Tim rested his head against the wall, “Hey Wally, I’m pretty sure the voice that you recognise belongs to a dead boy.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was Wally btw! There was like one sentence in the last chapter where i mentioned that he was imprisoned rather than dead and here he is. sorry for disappearing, my motivation decided to fuck off for a bit but i'm back.


	5. Enter Nightwing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shockingly, I'm alive.  
> Hopefully someone is still hanging around to read this and if so I hope you enjoy!

Tim had never really known Wally that well, he’d known him through Bart and of course he was Dick’s best friend, but they’d never spent that much one on one time together. That didn’t stop the solid drone of his voice as he read out loud to the both of them be calming while Tim lay on his back on the cold stone. 

Superman had shown up a little while after he’d been thrown in here, if the sight of Tim unnerved him at all it didn’t show on his face. Tim had almost been disappointed by the lack of unpredictability to the encounter. Superman had asked if he was from another Earth. Punched him when he didn’t reply. Asked again. Kicked him in the stomach. Asked him how he got here. Thrown him against a wall. 

Tim knew that Superman must have been holding back a lot because he was only badly bruised but honestly he wasn’t sure he had the energy to care that much. 

He’d used some of the breathing techniques that Bruce had taught him in an attempt to distance himself from the pain after Superman had stormed away again, scouring the cell on autopilot for any tools or means of escape. Coming up blank. No doubt these cells had been designed by Batman and it was highly unlikely he was going to be getting out on his own. The lock itself looked pickable, not like he had the tools to do so. 

“Hey Tim.”

Tim blinked his eyes open, realising that Wally had stopped reading some time ago, maybe he’d fallen asleep. He wondered how long Wally had been trying to get his attention.

“Yeah.”

“In your world, am I happy?”

“I think so, you were gone, for ages. Last I heard you were back with the Titans. Dick, Donna, Roy, Garth and Lilith.”

“That’s good.”

“Dick helped you move into a new apartment last month. Everyone’s really happy to have you back.”

Wally had steadfastly been swerving the topic of Tim’s Earth ever since Tim got here, curiosity must have finally got the best of him.

“I miss them.”

Tim didn’t know what to say to that so he just kept quiet. What were you meant to say to the alternate version of your older brother’s best friend who had lost everything, including your older brother. They fell silent for a while before Tim broke it.

“What happened to Superboy?” A part of Tim had been screaming to know ever since he’d gotten here, “I mean he was a Titan with your me, how did he end up with Superman.”

“I don’t know the details, me and what was left of the original Titans had fallen by then, but I do know that he had doubts right from the start.

“He’s technically a Superman clone after all, and what isn’t Kryptonian is directly from Lex Luthor. At the time Superboy had just wanted desperately to be accepted by Kal-El, he was on his way there too, been given the name Kon-El and living with the Kents in Smallville. When Lois died that fragile progress was thrown out the window and replaced with them or us. Something happened when the Teen Titans went up against it. All I know was that it ended with Superboy returning to the WatchTower, our you, Cassie and Kori declared dead by Superman and Barry sitting outside my cell begging me to acknowledge him. Honestly I hadn’t seen Superboy down here himself before you showed up but I’m pretty sure without you or any of the Titans telling him otherwise he doesn’t even try to see Supe’s word as anything other than law. Which I guess in a way it is.”

Tim was just about the reply when he heard a clatter from outside the cell. Scrabbling to his feet, wincing at the way his muscles screamed in protest, he listened hard and yeah the sound was definitely coming from the vent overhead and not from the hallway outside. Automatically, Tim dropped into a shallow defensive stance and heard what had to be Wally climbing to his feet as the vent cover swung down and a set of feet appeared. Dick dropped through. Kitted out in full Nightwing garb as well as a utility belt slung diagonally across his chest and a small backpack attached to it. He was followed by who Tim was pretty sure was Steph but she was wearing a version of the Batgirl suit rather than her Spoiler hood.

“Thank fuck.”

Tim felt himself naturally relax when Dick’s face filled with relief when he saw him and he dashed over to the bars so he could start picking the lock. 

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

Tim grinned, something in him relaxed a little bit now that Dick was here. That must mean that they’d figured out a way to get from one world to the next. He could go home, “speak for yourself. I think I’m doing pretty well considering.”

Dick finally swung the door open and Tim didn’t hesitate to step forward into his arms, the hug was brief and he felt Dick being careful not to push too heavily on his bruises. 

“Come on dead kids, we don’t have a lot of time before someone figures out we’re here,” Steph was stood up against the back wall, still under the vent and looking intently at the doorway that lead to the rest of the WatchTower and pointedly not at Tim.

“Right, yes” Dick stepped back and reached into his bag to retrieve Tim’s Red Robin suit, “I’ll explain once we’re out of here Timbo, right now that’s priority number one.”

Tim nodded, it felt good to have a mission again. He stepped back into the space of the cell and immediately started changing into his suit, modesty lost some time during having to use the communal showers of the batcave but he didn’t miss when Dick clocked the bruises already blooming all over his chest. When he stepped back out, one hand against the wall to keep himself steady, it was to see Steph working on the lock of the cell next to his and Wally, looking more thin and worn down than Tim had ever seen him, staring blankly at Dick through the bars. 

When the door swung open, Wally hesitated for a moment before taking a wobbly step over the threshold. When he put his foot down, Tim heard him release a shaking breath. Almost as though he was expecting something horrible to happen when he exited the cell. He then visibly shook himself off and continued to put one foot in front of the other until he was standing opposite Dick.

“I know you aren’t him, not really, but do you mind if I…?” Wally trailed off, making a vague gesture with his hands instead.

“Uuh yeah, of course man,” Tim briefly wondered how much Dick knew about this world, though he guessed he must know of his own death if the sad look he was giving Wally was anything to go by.

Wally nodded distantly before wrapping Dick up into a gentle hug and putting his chin on his shoulder. Tim couldn’t see his face anymore but he would guess that his eyes were shut tight.

Tim glanced over at where Steph was now fiddling with her utility belt, he got why she was ignoring him, he did. He was wearing the face of her dead friend, which reminded him, if there was one thing he could do to repay them it was to tell them what Kon had accidentally let slip to him.

“Steph, that is you right?”

Finally Steph looked directly at him, instead of past him, “Who else would it be?”

“I need to tell you something, it’s important.” Tim could see Dick and Wally quietly murmuring to each other out of the corner of his eye as Dick worked on the lock of the inhibitor collar.

“Can it wait until we’re out of here?”

She moved to walk past him, back towards the vent but Tim reached out and grabbed her arm as she went past, “It’s about your Tim.”

Momentarily, the wall that Steph had clearly built up around herself crumbled a little and Tim could see the sadness creeping into her gaze, “my Tim’s dead.”

“No he isn’t, your Superboy, when I fought him before, I pretended to be your Tim and he let slip that him, Starfire and Wonder Girl are all trapped in the Phantom Zone. I guess Superman thought it would be more demorsalizing if the Insurgents thought they were dead.”

Steph’s eyes searched his face, Tim knew all too well how dangerous it was to let yourself hope, “he’s alive?”

Tim nodded grimly, “Trapped but alive.”

Before Steph got a chance to react, an alarm rang loud through the room. Steph smiled at him, it was small but Tim couldn’t be more glad that he’d wiped that haunted serious look off of one version of his friend’s face, “time to go!”

She bent down and gave Tim a leg up into the vent and quickly followed him.

“I’m not going.”

Tim spun back around to look over the side at Wally as Steph leaned over the reach out a hand to him, “Don’t be silly West, this is your rescue too now.”

Wally only shook his head, “No, if I go, they’ll just follow us straight up into the vent and we’ll never get anywhere. Now I’ve got my powers back,” he vibrated a hand as though to prove it, “I can stay here and hold them off for long enough for you to have enough time to get out.”

Dick stepped forward and reached out a hand, “No Wally, they’ll kill-”

“Don’t dude, because if you ask me to come I know I won’t be able to say no so just don’t, please.” 

Dick cut himself off, he instead reached out a fist over the space between them, “Titans together.”

Wally smiled sadly and bumped his fist against Dick’s, “Titans together.” 

Dick then reached up to take Steph’s hand as Wally gave him a leg up into the vent.

“Hey Dick?” Tim was too far back into the vent to see them now but he could hear the way Wally was choking slightly on his words, “It was really good to see you, even if you aren’t my you.”

“You too Walls.”

Then Dick was swinging the vent back into place and they were crawling away from the cells. 

Tim pushed forward, focusing on the next step, “How’re we getting out?” 

It was Steph that answered, “Emergency teleport. A secret one that B set up that goes directly from what were his quarters to where Bs going to meet us.”

“And do we know who currently lives in B’s quarters?”

“Damian but he shouldn’t be there, not with all these alarms going off.”

One by one they dropped down into Bruce’s old rooms. Tim had never been to the ones on his Earth before even though he knew they existed, Bruce was always either in the medbay or sleeping at the manor so he figured that even if he had been there they would have been pretty undecorated. Much like now. The only personal items that Tim could see in the room were Damian’s league-made katana displayed on the wall and a single photo on the bedside table.

Tim hesitantly gave into his curiosity and made his way across the room to pick the photo up. His chest tightened. Dick and a preteen Damian, a little younger than the one from his Earth, were smiling up at them. Well Dick was grinning and Damian was wearing that small smirk that meant he was reluctantly enjoying whatever was happening, the one that Dick used to be able to bring out of him back when Damian had still been stopping himself from really smiling after arriving from the league.

“Why would he go against Bruce, kids always been a brat but I just don’t understand that part?” Tim turned to Dick and Steph, who were working together to move a bookcase out from the wall.

Steph huffed out a sigh but didn’t look up, “He killed Dick.”

Tim dropped the photo, ignoring the crack as the glass shattered on the floor, in shock.

“He what?”

“You heard-”

The door slammed open and a figure dressed in a red version of the Nightwing suit pushed through it, he was gripping one arm tightly across his chest as it blood flowed out from a deep looking cut stretching its length. It took Tim a moment to register it was Damian, another to realise that he was already at least a couple of years older than their universes counterpart and one more for Damian to see the three of them. 

He immediately dropped into a fighting stance and reached up his one good arm to retrieve an escrima stick from his back, but he froze with it half pulled out.

“Grayson?”

Tim glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Dick frozen beside the bookcase, his arms raised a little in a placating manor, “Hey Dami.”

It looked for a moment like Damian was about to back down but then his eyes flicked to Tim and Steph, who were both clearly ready for a fight and pulled the escrima stick out the whole way.

He sneered at Steph, “I heard you were running around wearing Gordon’s suit now, I didn’t think you had the gall?” 

“At least I’m not a murderer,” Tim knew that Damian and Steph hadn’t originally got on but at least on his Earth that had developed into a definite respect instead of whatever coldness this was.

Damian noticeably twitched at that, glancing across at Dick, “that was an accident.”

Steph scoffed and stepped forward. Damian moved to match her but before he got the chance there was a thud and he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Leaving Catwoman standing in his wake.

She stared at them for a moment before clicking her tongue.

“Get out of here before anyone else shows up would you because that speedster is going to go down soon and I am not fighting Superman for you.”

Tim blinked but headed over to the lead-lined space in the wall that the bookcase had revealed. It was a standard zeta beam, condensed down to fit in the space best it could but Tim knew how to work it. He shared a look with Dick before Steph hit the button and he was swallowed in a flash of light.


	6. A brother, a hostage and cliché

‘So how long until we can go?”

“Well it was 24 hours until our second window through this thing happens and I’ve been here for 21 so that 3 hours to go.”

“3 hours, that’s doable right?”

“Sure it is, gets some sleep Timmy, you look like you’ve been run over by 20 trucks.”

Tim ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “I’m fine Dick.”

“Yeah and, as Alfred would say, I’m the Queen of bloody England,” Dick straightened up a little, putting his hands behind his back and Tim couldn’t help but snort at his awful attempt at an English accent.

“Fine, but can it at least wait until we’re home, and have some genuine privacy,” they both instinctively glanced around the cave (Oliver’s not Bruce’s) at where everybody present suddenly became incredibly engrossed in whatever it was they were doing, apart from Harley who was sat on the computer desk swinging her feet, eating a cupcake and wiggled her fingers at them across the room.

Dick sighed, placing a hand on Tim’s shoulder, careful not to put too much pressure on any of the bruises, “Okay that’s fair, but don’t think I’ll forget. Seeing other versions of the people you love, do things that you can’t believe they’d be capable of fucks with your head, and that’s okay.”

Tim smiled weakly, “I’m glad you’re here Dick.”

Dick reached up to ruffle his hair and Tim squeaked as he ducked out of range, “yeah well it’s not like I was gonna let one of the kids come alone and this thing,” he waved the transportation device in the air between them, this world’s Bruce had tried to take it off him but Dick had point blank refused, “only has enough juice to move two people at a time, so you’re stuck with me.”

Tim only smiled and leaned forward so that Dick could have a better angle to clean the scratches on his back, he’d never say it out loud but he was overwhelmingly reassured to see Dick. It meant he could really tell the voice in his head that had been helpfully informing him since he got here that nobody would ever bother to come for him to just shut up.

* * *

  
  


“Hey Birdbrain, wake up we got incoming!”

Tim shoot awake, almost hitting Harley in the face on reflex and only stopping with his fist inches away from her face. She didn’t even flinch.

“What?”

“Supe’s and all his buddies are heading right for us! Either they always knew where we were or had some way of tracking you but I just kinda thought that you’d wanna be awake when they got here.”

Tim blinked. Then pushed Harley out of his face and scrambled up off the thin mattress on one of the old med-bay beds that Dick had convinced him to lie down on earlier. By the time he’d risen to his feet, Harley was already disappearing back into the main centre of the cave, her baseball bat hanging from one hand. 

Tim was still wearing his Red Robin suit but he grabbed his utility belt from where it had been placed on the bedside table and slung it across his chest, making sure his folded up bo staff was securely attached at his hip. 

The cave was alight with activity as everybody slung on what armour they had and pulled out their weapons. He could see Bruce and Steph working together at a fire near the computer, no doubt destroying anything that they wouldn’t be able to take with them. Spotting Dick talking to Black Canary near the steps that led to the surface, Tim rushed over.

“How long until they get here?”

Dick glanced across at him and automatically took a step back so that Tim could see Dinah as well, “until Superman gets here? Moments. We think they must have planted a tracker on you somehow.”

Dinah looked annoyed, though more at herself than them, “I don’t know how we missed it!”

“I do,” Tim turned around to see Bruce standing just behind his shoulder, he’d mostly managed to avoid speaking to this world’s Batman so far, left most of it to Dick, “when I scanned him I caught a tracker and assumed it was one from the Batman on your world as it was in the same spot as the backup ones on my Robin’s. Superman must have known that my focus would be compromised when dealing with you and used it to his advantage.”

Tim thought about how out of it he had felt during his encounter with Superman on the Watchtower. He definitely believed that a tracker could have been hidden among the existing bruises and scrapes during one of the periods where he may as well have been unconscious for all he was paying attention.

“We’ll want to face them in the open air, otherwise we won’t have a chance of holding them off long enough for you to get out of here.”

Tim frowned, “We won’t just leave you all behind.”

The white’s of cowl’s lenses gave nothing away, “You don’t have a choice.”

“He’s right Tim,” Dick looked regretful as he placed a heavy hand onto Tim’s shoulder, “we’ve come at it from every angle and even if they do manage to escape, Superman will undoubtedly seize all the technology down here leaving Batman no way of finding us a way home. We last long enough to go in 10 minutes when our window opens or we’re stuck here for good.”

The thought of being stuck on this world made a shiver run down Tim’s spine, “alright.”

Just as Bruce opened his mouth to say something else a deafening bang came from above, the cave shaking from the impact, instinctively Tim deferred to Batman (even if it wasn’t the one that he knew) for instruction.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Tim was more than a little irritated that him and Dick were being made to stand at the back of the group, he wanted to fight but also knew logically that he couldn’t risk getting dragged away from the battlefield and Dick so leaving him unable to get back to his own Earth. Instead, Dinah stood on one side of Bruce with Stephanie and Harley on the other side. He recognised a few other faces in the small group behind them including Black Lightning, John Constantine and Deathstroke of all people. 

Superman was backed by Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl as well as Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg and Damian, who Tim refused to think of as Nightwing in his head. Curiously, Superboy and Catwoman weren’t anywhere to be seen.

For a moment, Superman simply stared at Bruce, his eyes briefly flicking to Tim where they narrowed as he no doubt spotted Dick unmistakable as he was in his own blue Nightwing suit. He then turned his head a fraction and muttered something under his breath to Flash who nodded and disappeared a burst of lightning.

Before Tim could so much as frown in confusion, Flash was back and Superman had a hand wrapped around the neck of a young man. As Superman used his other hand to wrench back the man’s forehead, revealing his face, Tim’s stomach dropped out.

Jason looked awful. Out of his Red Hood garb he looked particularly vulnerable and small in Superman’s hands despite the fact that Tim knew there was only a few inches between them. Even though his eyes were open, they were repeatedly focusing and then drifting in a way that left Tim positive that he’d been drugged into submission. A thin trail of blood trickled out from one nostril and he had a nasty looking black and blue bruises that were covering half his face. 

What unnerved Tim the most though, was the way that Jason didn’t so much as flinch away when Superman began to run a hand through the tangled knots of his hair, “I’m sorry to have to do this Bruce, I really am, but you’ve left me very little choice.”

Bruce’s shoulders were tight with tension, he was fingering a batarang between two fingers anxiously, “he has nothing to do with this Kal-El, let him go.”

Superman sighed sadly, “On the contrary Bruce, your son here has a habit of hiding fugitives of the law away from prying eyes, including our little world hopper. A search of his apartment proved to be very enlightening.”

At that Jason made a half-hearted and mostly aborted move to pull at the hand still wrapped around his throat, Superman only reacted by starting to push down, causing Jason’s chest to start jumping up and down like a jackrabbit. Bruce’s fingers stilled dangerously where they rested on the batarang.

“No more playing neutral Jason, time to make a choice. Although I suppose you’ve already decided.” Superman looked back up at Bruce, it was chilling to see him hold such an earnestly sad look on his face despite the clear threat in his words. “You hand those two over to me,” he gestured with the hand not around Jason’s throat in Dick and Tim’s direction, “and I’ll make sure that Jason isn’t executed for his crimes.”

Bruce hesitated and for just a moment Tim thought he was going to comply, but instead he reached up and pushed the cowl back off his head with one hand, his brow was furrowed in 

concern, “What do you want with them?”

“They’re proof that parallel worlds exist, that there are more Lois’, more Waynes out there. Think of all of the lives that we could save Bruce, all the people we could help. All we need is to study them, question them to find out how they got here and how we can get anywhere we want!”

Bruce looked pained, as Jason’s toes slipped from where they were balanced precariously on the floor and he scrambled for breath for a long moment before he regained his balance, “And you’re willing to go this far to achieve that? He’s just a boy.”

Superman’s eyes filled with fire, “So was my unborn son when the Joker took him from me, took Lois from me. Jason was old enough to make his own decisions, and he chose to stand against me.”

“Does that make what you’re doing now okay?”

Tim watched with bated breath as Superman tightened his grip on Jason, his hands placed so that he could no doubt snap his neck in moments. He made to step forward, to somehow get past Bruce and volunteer himself for Jason’s safety but before he moved more than an inch Deathstroke’s sword was unsheathed and levelled with his throat. Though he couldn’t see Slade’s face, his hand would steady and Tim would be stupid not to be able to read the unspoken threat. 

He was still exhausted and knew that there was no way he’d be realistically be getting past Wilson, let alone the others.

“It’s necessary. Hand them over Bruce.”

Tim caught sight of the batarang in Bruce’s hand again as it moved and glinted almost green in the sunlight. In one motion, Bruce pulled his cowl back up whilst flinging the batarang with the other hand. It was like the world fell into slow motion as, instead of moving out of the way, Kal-El lifted one hand to brush the blade aside. Instead, he cried out in pain as it sunk into his wrist and he let go of Jason instinctively, in favour of using his other hand to rip the batarang out.

Now it was still Tim could clearly see the flecks of green kryptonite that dotted the edge of the blade. He had a brief moment to wonder just how Bruce had managed to keep that safe for such a length of time before Superman roared in rage and the two groups charge towards each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is running towards the end now and either has just 1 or 2 chapters left to go! I wanted to say another Thank You to everybody who actually decided that this was something worth their time, I seriously really appreciate it.


	7. Home is where your clone boy is

Running on pure instinct, Tim grabbed onto Dick’s wrist and pulled hard as he dove forward in the direction of Jason. He knew that they’d agreed for Dick and him to try to stay out of the fighting if they could, to avoid being separated and therefore miss their short window for escape but he refused to stand around and do nothing to help.

Dick didn’t protest nearly as much as Tim suspected he might, only stopping to throw his weight into Tim and push the both of them out of the way as Lantern was thrown into the ground hard where they’d just been standing. Hal only lay still for a moment before Barry was at his side and hauling him to his feet. Tim saw the pair of them muttering to each other urgently, and caught Barry swinging his arm to gesture in their direction before the pair were split by Harley swinging her bat hard into one of Barry’s knees. 

Reaching Jason, Dick immediately joined Tim in hooking an arm around him as they worked together to haul him towards the edge of the battle. 

Up close the damage was even worse, his neck starting to colour an angry black, blue and red with the bruising and the edge of his black eyes tingeing a sickly looking green. 

“Fuck,” Dick sighed as they laid Jason down carefully onto the ground, he briefly placed a couple of fingers to his neck and Tim felt waves of nausea wash over him until Dick sat back on his heels with a relived sigh, “he’s alive, got a strong pulse.”

At that moment, Jason gave a pained groan followed by a sharp retching sound that had both Tim and Dick lurching forward to shift him onto his side so he could throw the meagre and watery contents of his stomach out onto the dirt. Then, batting off both of their attempts to get him to lie back down, Jason pushed himself into a sitting position, eyes now looking far clearer than they had done before, with a wince until he was leaning forwards over his bent knees.

He shot Tim a smirk, “Not dead yet then?”

“Not dead yet.” Tim laid a hand down on Jason’s shoulder, it felt a little awkward but he didn’t really know what else to do with himself other than letting them hang uselessly at his sides. Dick cut in by offering Jason a water bottle that he must have just dug out of the pack that was still strapped to his back.

Jason’s eyes didn’t quite make it as far up as Dick’s face as he took the bottle in his own hand, choosing to come to rest on the dusty floor at Dick’s feet instead, “You aren’t our him are you?”

Dick look away for a moment and back again, “No, no I’m not.”

Jason nodded to himself, quietly taking another small sip of water that he washed around his mouth and spat out onto the floor. He looked like he was about to say something else, glancing up at Tim then back down again but he instead did a double take, eyes widening as he flung an arm out at Tim’s chest. Before either of them had a chance to react further, Tim felt a hand wrapping itself around his neck and hauling him up into the air. 

Panicking, Tim jerked in the tight grip, swinging his legs out behind him dangerously even as they reached a height that would badly injure, if not kill him.. The hand’s hold suddenly moved from the back of his neck to twisting him around so he was now hanging by the collar of his Red Robin suit. A blood covered Superman symbol filling his vision. 

Tim could still remember a conversation that he had with his own Conner months ago now.

_ When he’d been designing his Red Robin suit and he’d asked Conner why it was that he’d had never deviated from having Superman’s symbol front and centre on his chest.  _

_ “Now it’s partly because it’s the symbol of the house of El, that Kal-El honoured me enough to be a part of,” he’d said, fingers toying with the sleeve of his jacket, “but originally it was always because of what it represents.” _

_ Tim has grinned lazily at him over his shoulder, “and what’s that?” _

_ Conner had smiled back at him softly, his eyes shining, “hope. It stands for hope.” _

It felt so utterly wrong to see the symbol splattered with innocent blood and used in such a way. He looked up, expecting to see Kal-El glaring down at him but was instead shocked to see his eyes shining with unshed tears. 

“You ruined everything! Any chance that I had of Bruce joining me, any chance of creating a world where no one else would suffer the way that Lois and my son were made to!”

Tim froze, suddenly genuinely worried that Kal was in fact planning on dropping him. 

Kal-El’s eyes hardened, “all I wanted was to make the world safer. It didn’t matter that the people were scared of me, scared of us, because they were safe from sadistic psychopaths like the Joker. You think I wanted to kill Oliver? Or Roy, Donna, Kyle or Bart? You think I wanted Dick, a boy I saw as family, to die? I only did what Bruce, what all of them, were too afraid to do, too afraid to admit to themselves! They didn’t leave me a choice.” 

Tim found himself gripping into Kal’s wrists has they drifted higher and higher above the fighting below. 

“Then you show up and throw everything I’d built away. You start making Hal and Barry doubt themselves, you take one of my last remaining family members and feed him with false ideas about what needs to be done! I thought you were sent here to allow me to spread what we managed to achieve here to other worlds that needed us. But I was wrong. Now I just need you gone before you finish tearing down what’s left. I’m sorry Tim, I always heard that you were such a clever boy. I hope that you can believe me when I say that I truly am sorry that it’s come to this.” 

Tim didn’t have time to respond before fingers were wrapped tight around his throat and cutting off his airway, leaving him scrambling desperately for purchase. For something, anything, that he could use to buy just a bit more time. 

His vision began to blacken at the edges, narrowing down to only the face in front of him. Tim had been choked out before, but he couldn’t recall a time that he’d ever felt this terrified. He’d always thought that when time caught up with him that he’d be okay with it. He’d fight as hard as he could, with any luck he’d be saving somebody. Tim had never told anybody, but ever since the day that he’d first slipped on the Robin suit he’d believed that he would die young. And he’d accepted that in order to do what was needed. 

But in that moment as his vision flickered and blurred, Tim was suddenly struck by the realisation that he didn’t want to die. 

Not right now. When he was just on the cusp of something that he believed could be great with Conner. Not when he had a family and friends, a life, to get home to. The thought of dying alone, with the last thing he saw being a bloodstained and torn version of the symbol he’d grown to know so well, truly terrified him. 

But there was nothing he could do but scream inside his own head as the strength left his arms and they dropped away from Kal-El’s wrists weakly. He was positive that he had to be only moments away from blacking out for the final time when suddenly the intense pressure overwhelming him released and suddenly he was gasping for air as he tumbled towards the ground. 

One minute he was falling fast, the wind rushing through his hair as he plummeted and the next he felt himself being set carefully down, warm hands on either one of his cheeks. 

“Tim? Tim, look at me, please!”

Tim’s eyes still weren’t cooperating enough to focus but he’d know that voice anywhere, he frowned in confusion, “Kon?”

“Yeah it’s me, it’s me. Are you alright? Are you?” 

Finally granting Tim clearer vision he blinked up at Kon and then behind him and where Dick was standing worriedly, supporting Jason with one arm, and then even further to where he could see what must be Bruce, Barry and Hal fighting off what remained of Superman and his soldiers. Something in him warmed at the sight of the two heroes that seemed to have switched sides, maybe Bruce did stand a chance after all.

“You, you saved me,” Tim winced at how raw his voice sounded, how each word felt like it was ripping his throat to shreds. 

Kon used one hand to gently push Tim’s hair out of his face, still refusing to lean away any further than he had too, “he went too far. Maybe he’s been going too far for a long time now and I just couldn’t see it. But I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”

Tim suddenly felt more than a little uncomfortable, “I’m not your Tim. I can’t be him.”

“I know, but you’re still  _ a _ Tim and I guess that's what it took to bring me back to reality. I’m going to do what I should have done ages ago and go get my Robin back and that’s because of you.”

Tim smiled up at him, using one hand to push himself up a little so he could start to climb to his feet. Kon immediately dropped to the side so he could slip a hand under Tim’s arm to help him whilst also making space for Dick to do the same on his other side. 

As Tim settled back onto his feet several things happened simultaneously. The first was that his head span dangerously, causing him to shoot a hand back out to instinctively grab onto Kon’s shoulder, the second was a loud beep emitting from Dick’s pack causing him to curse loudly and sling it off to dig his hand deep into it and the last was Kon slumping forward with a groan.

Tim felt himself take an automatic step back at the same time Kon took a sharp breath in, his eyes widening from the shock. Tim felt paralysed in place. Unable to do any more than lift his arms slightly as Kon all but fell forward into him, revealing Kal-El standing silently behind him.

Feeling the panic rise, Tim shot a look over to where Bruce and the others were still completely engaged in battle with the remaining loyal members of Superman’s regime. 

Superman looked down at the pair of them sadly as Tim eased Kon down until he was lying across his knees, “I’m not killing you Kon, but I can’t let you fight against me, you’re too powerful.”

Kon was gasping emptily, coughing up blood onto Tim as he twisted sideways in his arms. Somewhere in Tim’s peripheral vision he could see Dick frantically fiddling with something in his hands, pointing it in the same direction as a strange ball of light that he was positive hadn’t been there a moment ago.

If Kon wasn’t kryptonian Tim was positive that he’d be dead by now but instead his breath was hissing in and out as he choked up more and more blood.

“What did you do to him?” 

Kal stared down at them, “His sternum is broken and one of his ribs has punctured his heart. He’s bleeding out.”

Tim’s hand shook as he moved it over Kon, pointlessly trying to figure out something he could do to help, “We have to get him to a hospital, he’s bleeding internally, we have to-”

Superman cut him off, “He won’t make it.”

Vision blurring from tears, Tim angrily swiped a hand across his face, no doubt leaving a smear of blood behind, “So that’s it? You’re just going to let him die?”

Suddenly, Dick was crouched down at his side, a hand placed carefully on his arm.

“Tim, Tim look at me,” he managed to tear his eyes away from Kon’s face for long enough to satisfy Dick, “I know this is the worst timing imaginable but we have to go.”

Tim frowned, “Go?”

The hand on his arm moved to wrap around his shoulders, “Home Timmy, we need to go home.”

“No, no, I can’t, I can’t leave him, I can’t.”

Superman crouched down and slid his hands underneath Kon’s back and knees, “You need to let me take him.”

Before Tim had a chance to protest, Dick spoke up, his voice filled with suspicion, “Where?”

Superman sighed, angered at being made to explain himself, “There’s only one way to save his life, sending him to the Phantom zone. It exists outside of space and time and his fate will no longer be tied to his physical form. To do that, I need to get him to the Fortress of Solitude and the Phantom Zone Projector before he  _ dies _ .”

Tim still refused to let go of the grip he had on Kon’s cape, even as Superman climbed back to his feet holding Kon, “and how do we trust you? You’re the one that did this to him in the first place!”

Kal glared at him darkly, “because no matter what you think of me, Kon-El is still the closest thing I have to a son and I won’t let him die just because he let himself be manipulated by you.”

Without warning, Dick started gripping his arm tighter and pulled him to his feet, causing him to lose his grip on Kon’s cape and letting it hang down pitifully, “I’m so sorry Tim but we need to go now.”

Tim found himself still unable to take his eyes off of Kon’s quickly paling face, “I can’t leave him, not now, I need to know that he’s alright.”   
He could hear the pain in Dick’s voice as he started to attempt to pull him back in the direction that the device had been set up to take them home, “We don’t have a choice Tim, I’m so sorry. But he’s going to where you said your Tim is and you’ve got a Superboy of your own to get back to.”

Tim felt so tired, so utterly exhausted, that he barely had any kind of strength to fight back as Dick wrapped a hand around his waist and forced him to step back until a familiar light was surrounding him from every direction. The last thing he saw before the world faded completely to white was Superman’s feet rising off the ground, Kon’s body still motionless in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Dick seems a little unsympathetic at the end but remember that he hasn't been in this world for very long so to him that Superboy is a stranger who has mostly been fighting for the wrong side. He knows that he needs to get himself and Tim home and that's his first priority.
> 
> Regardless I hope that you enjoyed and please drop me a comment with what you think if you can!
> 
> Right now I'm going with the plan that that will be the last main chapter with a three part epilogue to follow. One with Tim and Dick on their Earth, One on the battlefield and One with alternate Kon to wrap things up.


	8. An Epilogue or three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long but we have been moving house and got a new puppy so everything has been go time and I haven't had much time to right but here it is:

**1**

Tim felt wrecked. Muscles that he didn’t even know he had were aching as he sagged, sapped of all remaining energy and adrenaline, into Dick’s chest. Slowly the white faded and they were left standing in the same field only this time devoid of any sign of life. Home. Despite being glad to be back, Tim couldn’t ignore the bittersweet feeling it bought on, that he would never know if the alternate Kon was going to be okay and that it was now beyond his reach to help the others. 

Unceremoniously, the two of them dropped to the ground. Tim sat quietly as Dick pulled his pack back off and shoved his hand inside it, digging around for god knows what. He could see a tractor pulling its way across a field in the distance, he looked behind them and scanned the sky. It was an empty, clear blue. Tim let himself release some of the tension that he hadn’t even known he’d been holding.

“Shit!”

Tim glanced over at Dick to see he was holding a shattered earpiece in his hands. Not that surprising considering the state Tim’s had been in when he’d jumped to the other universe. Dick threw it on the ground and pulled a couple of cereal bars out instead, tossing one to Tim, “should’ve known really. Guess we’ll just have to walk to the nearest town and borrow a phone or something.”

Tim lay back, steadfastly ignoring the piece of rock that jabbed into one of the bruises covering his side, “no way. I’m not walking another step if I don’t have too.”

He felt too tired even to eat at this point.

Dick shook his head down at him but he was smiling faintly, “then how do you suggest we get home?”

Tim cupped his hands around his mouth and took a deep breath, “Superboy! Kon!”

Dick caught on quickly and lifted his own hands, “Clark! Kara!”

Only a moment later a blonde figure appeared in the sky above them, quickly joined by two more. Almost instantly, Conner was at Tim’s side. His arms wrapped tightly around him and his face buried deep into Tim’s hair. Dick didn’t miss the way that Tim was clinging on just as tight, his knuckles going white at the force of it. 

“You alright Dick?” 

Dick looked away and up at where Clark was crouched down beside him, Kara standing a few feet behind him and for a moment he instinctively wanted to pull away but he took a deep breath and let the urge fade. 

“Yeah Clark, we’re alright.”

* * *

“So you met evil me?”

“He wasn’t evil, not really, none of them were. They’d just- different things had happened to them.” Tim pulled his jacket, well Conner’s jacket, tighter around his shoulders. It was the first time that Bruce had let him leave the manor since getting home so he was finally getting a chance to tell Conner the details of where he’d been. 

“You know I’d never hurt you right?” 

Now that Tim was back home he could see the subtle differences between his Kon and the other one. Like their hair being parted on opposite sides and the bar his Kon has through his ear, not to mention how his Conner would never be caught dead without his jacket. It was reassuring, grounding, to be able to check the little things and make sure he was still in the right world. 

“We never know what’s going to happen.” Tim immediately felt guilty at the way Conner’s face dropped and he angled himself away slightly, back in the direction they were walking in, “but I do trust you.” Tim found himself focusing on the hedge that lined the end boundary of the Kent farm in the distance as he reached out and slipped his hand into Kon’s, his gut clenching with fear that Kon would pull away from him. 

“You do?” He didn’t know if Conner was looking at him or not but couldn’t bring himself to check. 

“With my life.” He felt his entire body relax when Kon’s hand wrapped around his tighter, entangling their fingers. 

“I trust you too Tim and I’m not going anywhere, not if I can help it.” 

**2**

Kon was drifting. One moment he was helping the other Tim back up and the next he was on his knees coughing blood up. Then air was rushing over his face, just like flying although he knew he couldn’t be doing it himself. Maybe it had something to do with-

“Tim?” 

The words must have been whipped from him by the wind, if he even made a sound at all because there was no reply and the world felt back to black. 

“Kon!” Kon felt groggy more than anything, the deep ache in his chest and head must have finally abated. 

“Kon!” He definitely wasn’t flying anymore, that was for sure. The surface behind his back was solid and definitely still. 

“I think he might be waking up! Kon!”

“Maybe give him some space?”

“Is he okay?”

“He looks alright.”

“Then why was he unconscious and being carried by Superman when he got here?”

“Maybe he tried to come back for us?” 

Kon’s headache was coming back at an alarming rate, sometimes he resented the fact that he had half human DNA. 

“Okay that time he definitely moved.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s waking up.”

He recognised those voices, “Cassie?”

“I told you.”

There was a pause as Kon cracked his eyes open and immediately reached a hand up to his head as he winced in pain.

“Yes thank you for that helpful comment.”

He heard Cassie snort in amusement, “shut it Drake, I thought you’d be happy.”

Kon fought to open his eyes again, “Tim?”

He looked up into the faces of Tim, Cassie and Kori, all still in full costume, all staring down at him. Kon felt like laughing and crying all in one, Tim was dropped to one knee next to him and was holding his cape in one hand, “what the hell are you wearing? I thought you hated capes?”

In that moment, something in Kon snapped and he was flooded with an overwhelming flow of memories. The Titans dead, Jason Todd holding the still body of Roy Harper but biting his tongue in an attempt to avoid the same fate. That hopeless look in Wally West’s eyes as he stared out of a cell, no longer able to run. Donna Troy being hauled off to Themyscira never to be heard from again. Most of all, Bart,  _ his best friend _ , dead and Kon forcing himself to act like he didn’t care, like it didn’t matter. Earth’s Green Lanterns who refused to stop fighting executed side by side. He just  _ couldn’t _ . 

Kon could feel his shoulders shaking violently but he just couldn’t stop as a sob was wracked from his body, “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” It became a mantra that he muttered against Tim’s chest, the Red Robin logo right in front of his face, as the guilt wracked his frame.

Distantly he felt Cassie and Kori sit down as well, seemingly uncaring about the blood still soaking his suit. He just focused on the steady rise and fall of Tim’s chest under his cheek and tried to remember to breathe.

**3**

Jason was so tired, he was so sick of being dragged into things. Why can't everyone just accept that he didn’t want to be involved in the big fights and he would always choose sticking up for the people over that. 

“Jason?”

Jason looked at Bruce where he was still crouched in front of him, he’d been there for a while though had stuck to examining Jason for injuries after being brushed off the several times that he’d attempted conversation. He was so goddamn tired of being angry.

“What?” Okay maybe not that much.

“I know you don’t want anything to do with me but you’re still my son, do you have somewhere I can take you? Somewhere safe that you can lay low for a while?” 

Jason felt a mix of rage and sorrow churn up in his gut, “the last time I attempted to go somewhere that  _ they  _ couldn’t find me, Roy died.”

Bruce sighed and pushed his cowl back from his face, Jason briefly wondered why he even still bothered with it now that the whole world had known his identity for months. Oh right, concussions were a thing, did he have a concussion? Probably. Jason was so sick of concussions.

“Things have changed Jason, Hal and Barry as well as some of the others have switched sides. Everyone is going to be safer from now on.”

_ Jason’s friends were dead, Bruce had abandoned him the moment that Jason made it clear he wasn’t going to be his good little soldier. Jason was the one who had been actually looking out for the people all this time.  _ “Fuck you Bruce.”

It came out weaker than he’d hoped and Bruce just set his mouth into a grim line and moved to put an arm under Jason’s shoulders and lift him up into a standing position knowing full well that Jason was too weak to stop him.

As soon as they were on their feet Damian approached them, his hands bound in heavy duty metahuman cuffs and Jefferson Pierce stood with a hand tightly gripping his bicep, “Father, the other Grayson? Is he gone?”

Jason felt Bruce tense next to him and did his best to avoid making eye contact with Damian completely. His mask had been removed and he suddenly appeared painfully young in a way that Jason hadn’t seen him in a long time, looking just reminded him of how much of a kid Damian really was.

“Yes, he’s gone.”

Damian’s shoulders slumped visibly, his hand twitched a little in an aborted motion before he glanced up at Jason and straight back down to the floor, “what was he like?”

Jason felt his chest tighten as he remembered that half delirious moment when he’d thought that the other Dick was their own, risen from the dead, “He was just like ours kid, just like ours.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Word is Kal is on the run, along with Diana and a few others. Biding their time and pooling their resources until they have the strength to fight again.”

“Bruce is searching but for now they have control of the WatchTower and the Fortress, they’re working on a way to get Superboy out of the Phantom Zone without killing him. The Titans are refusing to leave him behind.”

“What do we do? If Kal comes knocking?”

“You mean when?”

“I can hope, can’t I?”

“I don’t know how much hope I’ve got left in me if I’m honest with you Bar.”

“People keep looking at me like they can’t understand how I did it but I keep thinking what if it had been Iris, what if it had been  _ you  _ Hal, and I just, I know it was wrong but part of me always understood the need to not have that happened to anybody else, he just, he crossed the line.”

“I know.”   
Out of the corner of his eye Barry could see Hal running his fingers over the space that his ring used to sit and felt himself absentmindedly do the same, now all he had was the inhibitor collar around his neck.

“Wally won’t speak to me. I think he’s angry that after all we put him through me and you aren’t even seeing the inside of a cell.”

“Do you think we should’ve?”

“Yes. But I guess I’m also selfish for being glad that we aren’t.”

“I’m just glad that they aren’t stopping us from seeing each other.”

“Me too, but I need some time Hal. To get my head together.”

“Bar I-”

“I want to slow down a bit, maybe I’ll walk my way around the world or something?”

Hal smirked at him sideways, a shadow of the mirth that used to be always be present on his face whenever he spoke to Barry, “You can’t walk on water Barry.”

Barry couldn’t help but nudge him a little with his shoulder, even though the park bench they were sat on was long they were both sitting up one end of it, barely an inch between them.

“Maybe I’ll finally go on a plane then?”

“Sounds like an adventure.”

“Honestly I’m hoping that nothing exciting will happen the entire time.”

“I’ll be here when you get back.”

“I know you will.”

Barry couldn’t quite bring himself to smile but he did let himself wrap his arm around Hal’s shoulders as they sat quietly in Coast City park and watched the people for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so that's it, I got there eventually but I'm proud of this work and proud to have finished it!
> 
> Feel free to come hit me up with any questions and/or thoughts on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/thelampofthemoment

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you thought, every single comment is so very appreciated!


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